ClimVis Europe Focus Group Discussions: user feedback and recommendations

The document details user experiences with three existing climate tools—the Global Climate Monitor, World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal, and Copernicus Climate Information Portal—and provides a set of design recommendations for the upcoming ClimVis tool. Key user preferences include the need for national language support, intuitive layered complexity, high-quality metadata, and the ability to compare real-time weather data with long-term climate trends.

• Users evaluated three existing tools with varying results: the Global Climate Monitor was praised for accessibility and structure but criticized for outdated data (post-2014) and low spatial resolution; the World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal was valued for its sectoral summaries and projection indices but lacked individual year data; the Copernicus Climate Information Portal was seen as the most complex and non-intuitive, requiring expert knowledge to navigate climate models.
• There is a strong preference for national languages over English, particularly in school settings, though English is accepted in academic environments. Users suggest a compromise where top-level access is in national languages while in-depth scientific information remains in English.
• Users recommend a 'layered' approach to complexity, starting with a simple pan-European map on the start page and increasing detail through zooming and layers. Navigation should be optimized for various devices (PC, tablet, smartphone) and include geolocation buttons for quick access to specific areas.
• There is a significant demand for the ability to compare current, real-time weather data (from yesterday or forecasts up to 7-10 days) with historical and future climate contexts to better understand extreme weather events.
• Regarding data resolution, users find a spatial resolution of 0.1° (11 km) and daily temporal resolution sufficient for European-level needs. There is a specific preference for selecting actual weather stations over grid points to improve intuitiveness.
• Metadata and the communication of uncertainty are considered critical for the tool's credibility. Users want easy access to data sources and uncertainty ranges, potentially through innovative visual aids like 'climate signal maps' or specific tutorials on uncertainty.

APA

Hoy, A., Wypych, A., Ustrnul, Z., Gordov, E., Gordova, Y., & Nevmerzhytska, A. (2021). ClimVis Europe Focus Group Discussions: user feedback and recommendations. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/climvis-focus-group-discussion-results.pdf

Chicago

Hoy, Andreas, Agnieszka Wypych, Zbigniew Ustrnul, Evgeny Gordov, Yulia Gordova, and Anastasiia Nevmerzhytska. ClimVis Europe Focus Group Discussions: user feedback and recommendations. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2021. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/climvis-focus-group-discussion-results.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hoy |first1=Andreas |last2=Wypych |first2=Agnieszka |last3=Ustrnul |first3=Zbigniew |last4=Gordov |first4=Evgeny |last5=Gordova |first5=Yulia |last6=Nevmerzhytska |first6=Anastasiia |title=ClimVis Europe Focus Group Discussions: user feedback and recommendations |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=August 2021 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/climvis-focus-group-discussion-results.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hoy2021climvis, author = {Hoy, Andreas and Wypych, Agnieszka and Ustrnul, Zbigniew and Gordov, Evgeny and Gordova, Yulia and Nevmerzhytska, Anastasiia}, title = {{ClimVis Europe Focus Group Discussions: user feedback and recommendations}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2021}, month = aug, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/climvis-focus-group-discussion-results.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }